Horizon of Dreams
by JudgmentTH
Summary: Only Fate can know which way to go, which is why she kept this one goddess under her care for years to come. Thus did the dream began anew.


She was recently brought into this world, that much was meant to happen. It has been... over an endless amount of years that passed by, she couldn't remember the exact amount. The time of waiting in that space world was inconvenient, uncomfortable, and boring. Well, waiting a lot was expected, but she did want a bit of some good to come out of it, though. The new world that years passed on? New friends could be made. Some of her powers being lost forever? She could deal with that, it wasn't a huge problem.

A rough time during sunrise where her entire body was completely stiff because she woke up for the first time?

And Dream found another reason to blame Fate. Couldn't that high and mighty fairy of predictions actually warn her before she was sent back?

Not that it was important. Just a silly thing that happened. She still blamed Fate for that.

Here she stood, up above a structure where some curves met at a point, her sole right foot keeping her standing from this small tip. The twin tails of her hair were floating by the winds from high up, while she was hunching over a little with a glove-covered hand over her eyes, blocking the sunlight. She didn't have any real reason to sightsee the world around her, often preferring to take care of whatever she had to finish first, but if she needed to know some landmarks, why not?

Plus, she could map out some of the things without needing a map. She wanted her kind of fun, as she said.

"Let's see," Dream muttered, staring at a large building in the horizon. "That should be some kind of an inn. Most buildings that aren't inns don't have large neon lights with the word 'inn', anyways."

Like a gear, she oddly turned to a different angle, seeing another place. Foodstuffs were displayed by the side.

"That's the restaurant where I got my cake, rice, rice cake, pasta, ice cream cake, pizza, and cookie cake. And some cake, too, I guess. Not as good as Ace's, though."

She turned around again, and spotted another building that looked important. It had the sign of a small red cross.

"A medical center, or as everyone else calls it, a hospital. Synk would go crazy if any nurses were around, so I should probably avoid it when she gets here."

She then shifted her gaze downward. Another important place. But this one...

"Huh. My Basilicom looked much bigger than this one. Though, it did get down in size when I last saw it and stuff. Again, couldn't Fate told me about that monster?"

And finally, she turned to the sky, avoiding the bright sun that kept on shining over the world.

"Hey, Fate! I was totally not talking about you just now! So, don't you wo-aaahh!?"

The local residents of Planeptune couldn't hear that sound-breaching scream, as they were too busy to even notice a falling girl from a twenty-story structure. Her scream was voiceless to everyone when the morning hours kept on giving the daily noise.

Dream had no objections on keeping a low profile, though. The pain upon landing, however...

* * *

Two souls watched on.

It was a quiet day in this world. The tendencies where monsters were abound or spiced-up criminals loitering about were very much rare, if not nonexistent. That's what was being heard anyways. Upon arrival, it was easy to take ears when everyone's chatter in many cities around were full of life. Vibrant people living without feeling any sort of danger. Officials not panicking or distressing over something.

It was how Planeptune, and possibly many other nations, lived on.

No worldwide destruction. No political interruption. No massive annoyances.

The fate of this world would continue to flourish, if only that future problems would be taken care of, averting it from anything that could have it wallow in despair and disagreements. Yes, such peace was achieved as long as people were there to prevent those who would break it.

...That's what was being heard anyways.

And two souls watched on...

Over a hill next to a bustling city were those souls. One had the figure of a red-haired young woman. If there was anything to note about the red twin-tailed girl in white, she had this strange liking of swirl icons, being all over her white dress and gloves and whatnot, and she also had a necklace with a swirl as its major piece. The other soul had instead a male appearance. The black-haired man's half-and-half white and black jacket along with his purple eyes made him stand out more.

Much more than most of these blank people with silhouettes anyway.

The two kept their eyes at each other. Neither of them had any expression, aside from looking as if they were analyzing their opposing person. Both of them stood slightly stiff, with the young man having one hand in his pocked, and the girl's hand on a hip.

Neither of them moved, both in small gestures, and from their own spot.

They watched on, quietly...

...

...

And for one reason or another, that girl lifted her arms up, shaping her hands as if it was holding something, then muttered a whisper.

Two blue blades appeared in her hands.

And she rushed forward with both swords gripped tightly.

The man's eyes widened a little at the decision the girl actually made. To think that she would choose such an option... but waiting for an answer would have to wait, for she was quickly taking the initiative. In response, he also made a whisper to himself and allowed his decision.

Two handguns with long gauntlets materialized and were held by him.

The girl incidentally tried to make the first strike by a simple carve of a cross, but her very first attack was also blocked by the gauntlets the man managed to make use of. With danger sensed from even something like that, she took a single step back.

Two loud bangs voided other sounds.

But from her instinct, they only missed.

He was pretty sharp, thinking of catching an opponent with the surprise element, locking in a guard with the guns free to shoot.

The young man leveled his arms to a good level and began to fire endlessly, the guns' bullets seemingly endless. In return the woman rushed around him in circles, keeping the same distance from him while blocking the rest of the bullets that could actually hit. Her movements were oddly too fast and precise; even with the numerous bullets shot with excellent prediction, she was able to outmaneuver the sound-breaking projectiles and raised her swords to disregard the next.

Finally, the man stopped, trying to take a different risk..

And the girl, swords prepared, tried to go for another strike.

_Sching...!_

...Her second attack was blocked again.

But only one sword interacted with the long gauntlet he held.

The other blue sword from the girl clashed into the young man's own sword, his guns no longer there in place. The shock left in the girl was the perfect time for the man to strike; a fast kick that sent her flying away from him.

And he dashed after the dazed girl, trying to make his own slash. But amazingly the girl managed to wake up from feeling dizzy before alerting herself on the next attack.

_Clang...!_

Not even he was able to make his sword slice on, with it blocked by a blue sword.

And before they knew it, blows were attempting to be exchanged.

It was ridiculous as to how they did it. The girl had dual blades that would try to go better for offense in numbers, but the man's sword would meet with one, and his gauntlets would stop the other. But in it all, their speed was extraordinary. There was no one slowing down once they began to speed up.

That's what it looked like anyway.

To the young man, he never felt such pressure coming from this opponent. He knew he was fast, but to acknowledge that she would go faster meant that he could be in danger. Such speed from her was... it was...

That was when she unexpectedly raised herself and back flipped at his head as a strike. The kick from her was powerful, intense even. Enough to send the man flying away as well.

Just what he needed if her speed was unmatched.

Landing on his feet, he whispered something that dismissed the sword he held, and switched it up with only one gun while looking away. Meanwhile, the young woman went on, thinking that it would be all or nothing if he had resorted to a trick.

But then, the fleeting winds stopped, and the rustling of the trees halted. The man leveled his head to the girl in front of him, knowing full well that he was both in danger and in safety, the latter happening if he succeeded well.

The phase started.

He began to cast a glare at her.

The girl halted in her tracks.

But it was not of her own volition.

In that man's gaze, it was the source of hollow light and broken sound. She had fallen for it. Try as she might, her body couldn't respond to her commands after noticing so much dread from his eyes. That glare was death, fear, anger, anything so wrongly associated with it. She never feared for such things, but he was able to enforce it...!

He raised his gun at the girl.

She couldn't shake off the scare.

The clock of the world stopped.

_Blast...!_

The altered bullet roared.

It scorched the ground it flew over.

It created the aerial shockwaves that cut through winds.

And it headed straight to the panicking girl.

_Sching...!_

It was a hit.

The gun fired at the unmoving, trapped girl.

The battle was over.

...

Except...

_Except..._

The young man gasped right upon seeing the one girl still standing in front of him. How could this be? His gaze wouldn't allow those imprisoned to be free right before he inflicted his target!

But... what frightened him more was... how she was able to block it...

The girl grunted, her twin blades forming a defensive cross against the deadly projectile that continued its attempt to pierce through. Truly, a sight that would dispose of logic. It was less than a split-second for the bullet to make contact, and yet she still managed to position her blades to block such an attack. The bullet was even grinding against those blades, furious sparks scattering from the weapons.

And before he was able to understand it all, the girl let out a yell and pushed her blades onward, deflecting the attack and sending it straight towards...

_Blast...!_

The ground was carved again, from the girl to the man this time.

He was barely able to block it. Only the bullet was stopped in its tracks with the gauntlet, but the accompanying blast from the altered and deflected bullet was a wide attack that could not be defended easily.

_Scorch...!_

He took almost the full brunt of the attack, and yet it was enough for him to stagger. He felt multiple hidden injuries inside him, burn marks and bruises, all from his own, deflected bullet-

The girl's devilish smirk alarmed him completely...

-But he didn't stop for such a time, even if his damaged body pestered so. The girl wanted to see the battle end, and he had to live through it...!

_Clang...!_

The girl was surprised, just as much as the man.

The man was amazed because she was still able to strike quickly after countering such a tiring attack.

The girl was amazed because his body still reacted to defense by getting a blade up even after taking such a blow.

Neither of them moved. Their gazes were like the beginning of their first sight, as the man no longer bore that frightening emptiness. Even after feeling tired, no one dared to make the sound of breath drawn, since it would signal their condition, their weakened state.

Indeed, two souls watched on...

...

...

"...Was it necessary to cause a battle upon our first meeting?" The wounded young man finally spoke up, eyes narrowed in annoyance.

The young woman just shrugged in response with a carefree smile.

"Mm, this story back in the old days didn't get that many good fighting scenes. So why not?"

* * *

"There! You're all patched up, now!"

If the young woman had to thank this world for anything, it would be because of this very compassionate and somewhat skilled peach-haired nurse giving decent treatments at low fees. Notice the 'somewhat' used here. For some odd reason, hearing odd noises of someone suffering next room in the nurse's medical home was... very much a bad feeling she was given, leaving her to wonder if she was going to end up like that as well.

But the nurse's skills proved otherwise when she treated the older girl. She was very friendly, too, putting themselves into a long talk about the nurse's life and the future of the city.

Oh, it made the young woman with swirls a little jealous as she listened along.

How she wished she was able to live longer...

"Thanks for the treatment, Compa," the patient said with glee. "And I thought you'd leave me with sores and prescriptions, but you knew what to do."

"You're welcome, Dream!" Compa responded back, mirroring the joy. "You're right too. In fact, I've been trying to get better at my skills since then!"

"Since then?" Dream wondered the meaning. Were there moments where the nurse had to be put in excessive sharpening for her job?

"Oh, right," Compa nodded, realizing something. "I didn't tell you what happened back then. You see..."

The sound of doors opening up stopped the nurse, having the two girls focus their attention to the person making the sound. The same man Dream fought earlier entered before giving a passing glance at both girls. He seemed a little disappointed at most.

"Rise and shine, Retro," Dream poked on, trying to break the atmosphere he was giving. "I thought you'd have to stay in bed or something with those burns and all."

"Th-that's because he is," Compa sputtered, returning to her 'nurse instincts'. "Mister R, you shouldn't be up so soon, or your booboos might-"

"I'll be fine," he sighed, looking at the nurse, trying his hardest to ignore the childish terms she just used. "Don't worry about me like that. I've been through worse and wound up fine the next day or so."

"Even so..." She tried to insist. Most nurses were all like this, weren't they? Dream only wondered what could have been in store for her if there was one in her days. "Besides," Compa tried to reason again, "whoever did this to you, I don't think you'll be safe, even in this city..."

The man named 'Retro' snorted. "Oh, yeah, she's _sooo _powerful and dangerous she makes fights without talking first. Did I ever mention she'll have loads of fun fighting someone while keeping a smile on her face?"

"Huh?"

Trying to give a silent answer to the clueless nurse, he looked at the girl that would burn all hope with her blue twin swords. Said girl was even smiling at the man again after he began to glare.

"...Teehee."

"D-Dream!?" The incredulous look on Compa was expected. "But why? Maybe if it's a friendly fight, I can understand, but...!"

"Eh, I kinda wanted to see how the guy could handle himself if it came down to it," Dream waved, acting as if she didn't get the point.

"You're deadly if you want to test someone like that," Retro said, irritated.

"You're boring if you take it too seriously," she bickered back.

"Do you plan to do this to everyone you meet?"

"Do you think I _am _gonna do it to everyone?"

"B-both of you, please stop fi-!"

"Don't get involved in this!"

Both Dream and Retro caught on to their words the moment they realized who they shifted their attention to speak to. The paralyzed only squeaked as she wordlessly stared blankly at the two, not throwing another word in fear of a bigger outrage.

...

"Um, oops?" Dream tried to smile without a piece of a grimace in sight. "Don't worry, Compa. It's just a stupid fight. Honest." Diffuse the flare. Diffuse the dynamite. Diffuse the nuclear bombs of unnecessary tears present...

"A stupid fight indeed," Retro spoke in a monotone, sounding as if he had nothing to talk about.

Compa unfortunately shivered. Was she still that scared about the scene? Gotta switch to a new topic... wait, there was another topic she wanted to get into, right? Dream hoped that this would get through.

"Uh, hey, what were you gonna say about back then? You started to sound pretty serious too."

"O-oh yeah!" The nurse recalled, almost forgetting the bad experience. "Well, you see..."

* * *

"ASIC, the weirdo company that took four main CPUs and a CPU Candidate into an ecchi fan service event in the Gamindustri Graveyard for many people to see when they were playing mk2. Three years of mental trauma later, those two girls, featuring the nurse I know of and a guild member in a long coat, took the only Candidate away with the power of wishes. Since then, they began to free the world from the propaganda and the weird bandwagon advertising of ASIC. The Four Felines that took control of such advertisements were blocked away, but their souls went to make some grape juice in the Gamindustri Graveyard called Arfoire, thus beginning the final ASIC crisis.

Fortunately, with the freedom of the rest of the goddesses, the unison of the other goddesses, and some other kids who weren't goddesses, they went on ahead to stop all plans of ASIC, but the final boss kinda became a jerk and wanted to go all apocalypse on the world. This was stopped once the four CPUs became the seal to the entity. Of course, something random happened, and because of that, the CPUs managed to come back once they noticed a purple-haired girl falling from the sky as if the sky itself had a baby."

Dream took a long breath on the other end of the dining table in the cafe. "So, I guess that's our history review so far."

"Okay. Who are you, and why was I supposed to pay attention to things I already heard, but with more stupidity?" Retro grunted before taking his cup.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe it's you, but I'm totally up above on fun whenever I say so. Plus, you look funny."

"And now it seems like you aren't taking me seriously."

"You're a one of a kind character; of course it'd be difficult. And if I took you seriously, _they'll _take it as something else."

"That's their problem. I already have someone else."

"You _had _someone else. Then again, you're still taken by her anyways, even though she's dead."

Retro immediately looked stiff at that moment. Perhaps it was a touchy subject?

"Eh, sorry," Dream half-grimaced. "Not used to someone with that kind of a past."

"It's nothing," he responded in assurance. "Actually, I just wished I had more time to spend with her."

"Still, it just proves that you're the strangest one," she snorted, lifting her index finger while running back to his status. "I mean, come on, no one in the other universe expects normal male characters in this world. The next thing you know, almost every reader out there will be wary of you because of your presence here. Topping it off, I have to make fun of you from time to time because of it in order to calm everyone down and prevent a lot less 'gaaah' from coming up. You with me?"

"I would take your word, Lady Dream," he argued calmly, "but you just revealed to the masses out there about your intentions on how you're going to make it work out. Now people who read this are going to expect it and it won't be funny anymore, thanks to you spilling it out for them."

...

"...Damn it," Dream stared down in a loss. "Me and my big mouth..."

"It's okay," Retro said. "This isn't the place to talk about it anyways. We have important things to talk about at any rate."

"Right!" Her cheerfulness was swapped back. "So, let me get this straight," she continued after sipping her tea. "You're a Player, ahahayourtitleisfunny, and Players are people who serve goddesses."

"Yes," Retro admitted, his gaze on the former goddess quite solid.

"Players are usually the ones who take on dangerous missions approved by the goddesses."

"Correct."

"Players aren't expendable like trash, so the goddesses take caution on choosing the missions."

"Of course."

"They reject any mission that involves negative actions towards other nations, as well as killing people unless necessary."

"Naturally."

"And they're all perverts and manwhores."

"I don't how you got to that conclusion."

"Damn," Dream grimaced on watching the still-unshaken young man indifferently sounding his last statement. "I was expecting a moment of victory because of your title, but you got a good poker face. When the hell did you reach to that point?"

"Does it matter?" He grunted. Oh, how he really didn't want to mention those moments when he came for just a mission...

"Never mind then," Dream sighed. "Anyways, so you're a Player, ahahahayourtitleisstillfunny, and you want to serve under me thanks to the circumstances that are going on right now."

"That's correct," Retro affirmed with a nod. "I am Retrono Alburn, a Player of ages past, and so I wish to serve you, Lady Dream."

"That's what's been bugging me." Dream tilted her head. "I'm totally fine with you serving goddesses because that's what you want to do, but why me? The other goddesses are the real deal and all. I'm not one anymore, or at least, I don't think I am."

"Aren't you the only one who actually knows what's happening to Gamindustri?" Retro accused, believing the one who also knew as much as him was a more valuable ally.

"That sounds okay, but is that the only reason?" She curiously asked back.

"...To be honest," he sighed, "serving the other goddesses isn't such a bad idea if I didn't have another purpose."

"Your other purpose?"

"I thought you already knew. My final purpose before I left this world was to hold away a great force from the world."

"Ah," she acknowledged in understanding his lead. "I didn't think you made a bet with that guy."

"...I'm supposed to keep watch over him as the seal," he then explained in a bit of solemn. "When the world was once dying thanks to him, I volunteered to be the seal against him. Now, normally us humans aren't much of a special type, especially compared to the goddesses, but before he would even start his parade of destruction, I found myself having... strange powers."

"That, I figured. It was pretty odd for a human to be chosen by a Circuit Edge. So what, you got plot powers or something?"

"That's... one way of putting my powers in short, yes. But not all of them were awakened when I was there."

"It was at first sight, right? Mastering whatever you had just now wouldn't happen right away."

"Hm..."

The young man's gaze hardened on the girl, almost as if he was expecting... something?

"...What?" Dream wondered, noticing his silent stare.

"You just... don't seem that surprised," he admitted. Was an irregular human with powers that normal for her?

"Meh, nothing new at all," she waved off in a bored tone.

"...Whatever," he sighed. "Anyways, I didn't really care about its origin at the moment. Maybe I do now, but it really doesn't matter the most. With the powers I held, I sealed his soul along with his powers, and monitored over his changes as time passed. And, well, time passed until that one time."

"...The seal was broken," Dream answered in her belief that she was accurate. That guy that Dream had defeated in her final day had to be the same one Retro seemed to be talking about. If it was broken, then it would explain the kind of havoc he caused before he was gone from the world.

"It was broken... in an unusual way."

"...Huh?"

The seal being broken in a strange outcome? But he was free like it was normal, right?

"I should have still been able to keep him in captivity," he continued, his tone pretty grim, "but I sensed an odd burst of energy right in the middle of the seal. Before I knew it, he was no longer present in the seal, leaving me behind as I tried to move free from it."

"Then... the reason why you didn't show up to take the spotlight before I died and all..."

"I was stuck there, and he was free."

She grimaced. Ah, maybe if he was actually there much, much earlier... but then again, Fate wouldn't be able to collect her and have her go up against him in this era, so maybe it was for the best. That 'odd burst of energy' he mentioned did leave a bad taste on the info, but it seemed that he wasn't able to tell what it was. Still, if Retrono was the person that can seal that excuse of a person...

"And then I killed him," Dream went on, finally understanding the situation, "or, well, I sort of did, but you came along to finish the job and sealed him again."

"And the seal was reset and continued for many more years," Retro explained, "until another burst of energy destroyed the seal again. This time," he pointed at himself, "I timed the escape just right to be free from it."

"The seal broke again..." she muttered grimly. Was Retro here really bad at keeping people in captivity?

"I don't know why it happened again," he shrugged. "I plan on getting an explanation from him when I can. But since it happened, now I must seal him once more," he finished.

"...So," she began to finalize, hesitating at first, "you want to serve under me because I fought him before and know who he is, and you have a score to settle with him again. With that said, we can cooperate much easier knowing what will happen since we know the one person we're after."

"Now you know about my ties with him," he responded, "I'll ask just once more. Will you allow me to serve you?"

"If I refuse?"

"I would still have to be with you, or at least drop me off to a time where I can finish him. Fate still wants you to allow me to accompany you, after all. Other than that, you can be the replacement of the seal, though I wouldn't like it."

"Yeah, that'd probably leave a bad taste for me."

Well, she figured, going solo wouldn't make things easier. Plus, it didn't seem like there were people who would cooperate with her easily, given how ridiculous it would be for a dead CPU to show up from out of the blue. But first...

"Alright, first off," Dream gestured with a raised finger, "you're not a Player."

"...I'm sorry?" He was only able to ask.

Dream allowed her smirk to resurface. "You're not a Player, ahahahayourtitleisstilltoofunnydamnit, and that's because I'm not a goddess nor a CPU for 'Players' to serve. I'm Dream, only Dream, and so you're my Partner."

"...Do I get any-"

"No. No objections. No point-outs. Nothing. Even you know that title's pretty terrible, too. Partner, now."

"Lady Dream, you can at least be-"

"No. Not even calling me Lady Dream is a priority. Just Dream. I'm not special anymore. Partner, now."

Retro muffled in annoyance and amusement. "Partner, huh? Fine, sure." Nothing was gonna get to her at this point it seemed. Well, it certainly beats holding the title in this era if Dream's mockery was of any indication.

"And second," she raised her next finger, "I'm... pretty much gonna need all the help I can get. So, yeah, you're hired."

"...Thank you," he said with a fortunate smile.

"Good!" She beamed straight away. "Now, first things first, we need to do some planning."

"I have to ask you," Retro began before she started to think, "why are we in this route? I thought you wanted to take care of the broken road first since it already has a Circuit Edge almost complete."

"Wow, how much does Fate tell you?" Dream sagged before straightening herself. "Anyways, I kinda need to fix my Circuit Edge... my Cosmic Clock first."

"...Your twin blades?" Retro wondered. The azure swords, the Circuit Edge she used in their battle, right? Why would they need some fixing?

"I..." She began to smile sheepishly. "I... kinda, um... broke it... lost two cores... in the last battle with him..."

Retro sighed again. So before then, she acted like a child that didn't take care of her toys well. "Fine. Now, what kind of cores does it have now?"

"Cosmic has only the Regeneration Core and the Stabilizer Core," she easily listed. "So..."

"So it lacks the Power Core and the Battery Core," he deduced. He figured correct when the former goddess nodded.

"I only need those two from this timeline, really," she answered. "I can still jump to another timeline, but that takes a lot more power if the Circuit Edge is incomplete. That, and I have another reason why I want it completed."

"Another reason?"

Dream gave a joyous and teasing smile.

"It wouldn't be fun if I told you before that happens, would it? I'm doing it right before we leave this timeline, though."

There goes the lady making secrets right away. Well then.

"Alright, so we only need the two cores," Retro concluded. "Once that's done, the weapon can be complete, and we can move on."

"Yep!" Dream answered in a cheer. "Eh, but I got a question."

This could be something important, he figured. "...Go on."

"Um... you know where to start?"

...

...

"Hey, Fate never told me anything about where to go," she argued, trying to shift the blame. "It's totally not my fault."

"Give it a minute," he tried to cool her down. "Maybe we'll catch something when we least-"

"Geez, that oversized globe was kind of weird when I saw it."

"I think so too, chump."

"...expect it," Retro finished muttering. That timing on the information could _not _be just a coincidence. The duo on the table cranked their heads to the ones on the high stools. One on them was in a rat suit, with her skin looking pretty pale, and the other one was... an actual large rat. If they said something about an oversized globe, then... could it be? Just like what Dream encountered those previous times?

"Still," the rat-lady muttered, "that weird ball thing back at the Virtua Forest did look like it was kind of important, since it had some kind of a world in there. You think that we probably should have taken it, or something?"

"Who knows?" The actual rat shook his head. "But I don't think we could have taken it, chu. You're too skinny to steal something like that."

"And you're freaking short," she spat. "What, you trying to pin the crap down on me again? You're not that far off, damn it."

"I'm not that helpless anyways! In fact, I probably would be better than you if I was a woman, chu!"

"...What kind response is... no, forget it. Let's just steal something that can carry that thing and get moving. Maybe it might be important to us."

"Right behind you, chump."

The two weird customers who _totally _didn't have any signs of evil then strolled off, both looking a little less pleased.

...

...

"...Please tell me that did not just happen," Dream sighed, dropping her head to the table.

Retro lifted a hand to his temples. "At this point, I don't know anymore."

* * *

Virtua Forest, where it is considered a 'walk in the park' for those who can fight. The scenery of rivers, lush greenery, and open fields, along with technology recently supporting nature's breaths of life could draw anyone nearby right in. The monsters here were relatively weak as well.

And in the center of it stood an odd, round mechanism, with two people walking towards it. The mechanism indeed had a picture of some land in its crystal-like globe, though its white mist flowing out of it were making it difficult to see. Black pointed tips stuck onto a black ring encircled just above the object.

"Huh, just as I thought," Dream whistled as the mysterious object continued to radiate white particles. "Another IDEA Zone."

"Ah, so you happen to know what this is," Retro pointed out. It's no wonder why she seemed so bent on coming into the forest.

"Imaginative Dimension's Eternal Aria," she fully named, walking closer to it. "Anything and anyone create these worlds if many of them are on the same wavelength in their imagination. Not always does this happen though, which is why they're considered uncommon. In fact, the rarest of them all are those not created by humans, but instead something else with enough power that can generate these things."

"Interesting trivia," he remarked in a monotone. "So do you plan to find something that caused this IDEA Zone?"

"Why not?" She snickered as if it was obvious. "Could be something important, you know. Probably one of the cores we need."

"A core?" Retro mused in interest. "Are the IDEA Zones that strange of a construct that they can be formed by any object at will?"

"Yep, weird little things, aren't they?"

Saying no more to get a move on, Dream walked more closer to the round globe, the IDEA Zone, and raised her arm towards the object. After a second, the necklace hung onto her neck began to shine a brilliant light in resonance to the object that began to give a stronger glow. Not only that, the strange globe gave a faint warmth in contrast to its earlier state.

The IDEA Zone was open. And the prize of the world was in the end of it.

"Alright, let's move," Dream ordered once her arm lowered. "We should be able to find something important here." She then started to move forward towards their first IDEA Zone after countless years.

"Understood," Retro nodded, following behind Dream in her tracks.

Upon a single touch from Dream to the globe-like IDEA Zone, what followed a quick flash of light was a sphere of light floating on Dream's initial spot, before heading towards inside the small world, creating what looked like ripples once it entered. After watching the effects Dream performed, Retro also gave a touch to the globe, giving another instant flash and transforming into a condensed light as well before heading inside to assist the former goddess.

Thus did they went onward for their first task to finish. If one of the cores was actually inside, then maybe...

* * *

A large, expansive ocean that reflected like a field of sparkling azure gems, sandy patches that surrounded the open waters, and steep hills maintaining their greenery with humming nature circuits flowing through the rocky walls, all of this under a clear, bright sky. Adding to the scenery was blue roses blooming vividly around the grass. For an untouched beach like this, one could only watch on in awe.

"Sapphire Sands Zone!"

Retro glanced oddly at Dream, who came up with the name in glee. They both stepped out of the gateway that looked rather like the earlier entrance, only with the structure's globe in this world being that of Virtua Forest.

"...I'm sorry?" Retro spoke up after her naming.

"You see, Retro," Dream explained excitedly to her calm and confused Partner, "in beaches, all you see are sands and sands and saltwater and more sands and more water and no sandcastles. And it's boring." She lifted her arms horizontally toward the world. "In a place where things are created by imagination alone, such lands are well-cared unconsciously that they have so much wonders in them! Sometimes, they even have cool things you never see in actual places!"

"...So you like the blue flowers that are a little out of the picture?" Retro humored, watching the dancing flowers. It had to be so; beautiful gardens near beaches are possible, but rare to him, he figured.

"That's one of the aspects!" The former goddess chirped as she spun around. "In fact, I'm seeing a lot of blue here, and I'm not talking about the ocean and the sky, too."

"So that's why it's named so," he responded with a small smile. Indeed, there were quite a bountiful of impossibly-blue roses living in grassy patches around the area. Though the trees and the vines on the hills bore no blue, the flowers around were the attention grabbers.

"Actually," Dream nervously spoke up with a grin as she turned to him, "these lands... don't get names."

"...They don't?" Retro tilted his head. What did she mean?

"Well of course no one's ever been here before," she argued with a neutral face. "That's why these lands are nameless. I just name them on appearance."

"Then the naming..."

"Yep!"

"Just from what you see at first."

"Yep!"

"..."

"...Uh, nope?"

"It's fine," Retro sighed, looking away from the unsure Dream. "If anything, it has basic meanings without it sounding so childish. Like how a certain nurse does it."

"Cool," she nodded in agreement. "I also like to put in some alliteratives in each name, so have fun with that."

"If you say so," he shrugged, looking onward towards the open land. Palm trees with either green or blue leaves stood about, along with the rest of the blue roses blooming. There were also some monsters loitering ahead, different from the forest they were in not too long ago. Aside from said monsters making the negatives on the scene, the strange feeling that he got once he looked carefully at the rarely-colored roses took him to his thoughts.

'_Those roses. They're all too familiar. I wonder... but can it really be possible?_'

"Hey, slow-mo Retro!"

The appearance of Dream in the green field between the edges of sand popped up. He shook his head; daydreaming wasn't a good idea if it kept her waiting.

"Coming."

* * *

The radiance of the world was a fortune to those who admired the everliving beauty. It was flowing with so much artistic inspiration and cutting-edge life that Dream had to get Retro to snap out of it no more than three times to get back to work.

He didn't blame her. She never knew what he was really thinking about this world. Though, for the most part, he wanted the answer to be less surprising. The world they were on, it was all too real to him, an inconvenient truth he didn't want to believe in.

But these blue roses... no matter how far they went, there was always bundles of them each sight...

"And there you go, dozing off while running again," Dream mentally knocked at him as they continued their exploration. The purple-eyed man just narrowed his gaze.

"I suppose it's bothering you too much?" Retro asked back.

"You're the one that's bothered by something," she countered. "You're always thinking about the blue roses, aren't you?"

"You noticed it now?"

"I noticed it _way _before, the first time you stood there like an idiot. I didn't want to point it out in the beginning because I figured it was that important to you."

Either this girl was smart on her own, or preferred to stall questions and answers for better times... Retro mumbled a bit before making it clear.

"Those blue roses. You know they aren't possible, right?"

"Already knew. Anything else you can tell me?"

"Those blue roses... no, not just them. This entire world seems like a world that someone explained to me before."

Dream was, understandably, mildly confused. "Someone explained to you? So that person knows what's this place?"

"Obviously," Retro huffed. "It's a strange nostalgia that came to me when we got here. If anything, Dream, this place... I just hope that..."

"Ah, hold up."

Her command prompted the screeching of their feet, having both Retro and Dream to look forward the moment she noticed something up ahead.

In the center of a flowery field between the sand and open ocean was an odd object. A cube. A transparent cube that levitated above a foot or two from the ground. It glowed a white glow from a kind of energy that it held itself within. It was unnatural from the rest of the world, so it was special in plain sight. What was more noticeable about the strange cube was what it held.

A person. A young black-haired woman in a white and blue dress who slept peacefully inside the prism, seemingly unaware of the world around her.

"Huh," Dream spoke up out of everyone's thoughts. "Well, people can be the center of their own IDEA Zones when they can, but that's a rare moment in a rare moment. Probably only works for special people too. Unless..."

"Sylvia."

"Girlfriend?"

"Fiancee. But yes."

Dream already knew that Retro was troubled, ever since he saw this world, so pointing it out was unnecessary. She was still surprised on a number of factors about this girl that Retro was related to. Before he became a seal for an evil guy for countless years on his own, he had his own love interest back then. It makes sense for him to be surprised that the girl who was with him centuries ago suddenly showed up sleeping in their doorstep.

Whether or not Retro was okay with it, now that was a different story. She noticed that her partner looked a little sad, but what he was trying to show was a neutral expression that went with his roaming questions.

"...I told her to live her life to the best that she can," he muttered, still audible enough for the former goddess to hear. "Two lifelong seals later, I see her sleeping right in front of me, barely looking like she changed after all this time. She didn't really understand what I meant, did she?"

"In the end," Dream notified to her partner, "people still have the option to do what they want. So she pretty much chased after you even knowing the chance that it probably wouldn't work."

"That's what I'm disappointed about," he sighed.

Dream just shrugged with yet another carefree smile. "Well, is that completely a bad thing? You did say you wanted to spend more time with her, so just get to it!"

Was she that optimistic about everything? "That's it. You're always going to be the strange one to me, Dream," Retro grunted positively at the former goddess.

"Can't help it. It's a trait I have," she grinned. In anyone's view, depression was never a problem to her. "Back to the problem at hand, though," she said, both of them looking back at the sleeping woman. "I guess she's the source of this world, if your reactions are of any indication." She snickered at the end.

"Whatever," he simply said. "So we have to get her out of there. What will happen if we do, though?"

"The world?" She merely lifted her swirl-icon necklace at him. "I'm still linked, so unless we purposely leave, the world pretty much stays."

"So we should be fine for the time being, I suppose." Being fine after finding something valuable without any trouble is rather rare.

Dream's stunned posture did prove how rare it was.

"Huh? Why did you tempt Fate all of a sudden!?" Dream quickly scolded him, frowning. The anger from the usually calm and upbeat girl shocked him slightly. "You're not even supposed to expect a clean getaway at all! There's going to be a boss showing up at just about-"

Right off the bat, just behind the cube that safely contained the sleeping lover, a large monster popped up without warning before landing in front of the prison. The new enemy... it strangely resembled a knight's armor, three times the normal size at best, but there isn't any form of a human inside. The large living armor was of sturdy black metal, while its sword was completely forged by shiny silver. The giant stood straight, right in between the duo and the sleeping woman named Sylvia.

"Oh, hey, just like I thought!" Dream beamed innocently, ignoring the glare from her partner. "I told you so! Joke's on you, Retro!"

"Whatever," Retro sighed again, looking back at the living armor. "I was expecting at least one strong enemy showing up for this day, so it's not that disappointing."

"Cool."

They needed not to say anymore, the objective pretty clear with the black, formless knight standing in the way of Sylvia.

Dream lifted her arms, closing her eyes to pay no attention to the vivid beach around her. Not even the knight preparing to attack the former goddess shook her for any other movement.

"Hands of a clock, shards of time itself."

_Clang...!_

The large weapon of the armor met with the twin blades that Dream held. Despite its brute strength, its weapon wasn't making a budge on the former goddess. No, even after being altered, she still wasn't completely normal.

"Nope. Not dying on the first day."

Right away, she rose her blades upward to push the large sword and stepped to the side, avoiding the crushing weapon. Even as the knight opted for a swipe at her, she only needed to slide underneath it and prepare her strikes from behind. The sound of metal grinding against metal reached out to their ears, but it didn't mean that the living armor was losing anything.

The armor spinning around to swing its sword definitely said so.

_Clang...!_

But Dream stopped the attack again, locking the large sword with her own blades before deflecting them back. But it was not long before the sword tried to cleave onto her once more, only for the it to strike the meaningless winds instead.

And yet, the monster's size had nothing wrong with its speed. Just shrugging off its sword would only propel the armor to swing right away, even if all of them counted as misses. It was why getting more hits in was easier said than done. Sliding behind it only allowed two or three strikes, against an armor that was meant to defend from simple slashes.

So a weak point was needed, but...

"Weapons and weapons, all to destroy."

_Blast...!_

The fired charged bullet drove into the knight, actually managing to flinch the giant from behind and stopping its swerving slashes.

"Dream," Retro called out to her on the other end of the field. "Don't you have any attacks that burn targets?"

"So you want me to melt it?" Dream jumped to the point right away. "That shouldn't be a problem. Give me a moment to charge it up, first."

The large knight straightened itself before trying to drive its sword onto the former goddess, only to strike just the ground as Dream sidestepped rather fast. She knew that there was no point in just slashing armor, despite continuing to do so while taking steps left or right and sliding down to 'whoosh' through the sword. But the rhythm of this battle, the only kind of tempo she felt, needed to be timed on while she distracted it in style.

Once more the knight tried to go for an overhead strike, only for Dream's twin blades to lock the enemy in place. Just by only keeping it occupied allowed Retro to draw out his power, his dual guns glowing for a second before turning into the gun and blade combo. The single handgun pointed towards the knight, but instead of his earlier blows, two weaker shots bashed towards the back, followed by Retro's sword cutting through the air to create a cutting energy wave that also flew onto the large knight.

_Blast, blast... slash!_

The damage was moderate, but the enemy wasn't down, the set of three strikes finally getting his attention on the second attacker. Immediately it freed itself from the lock and quickly swept through the section behind it, yet Retro jumped back in the nick of time to call it a miss. And since the giant took its eyes off of Dream...

She quickly dashed through the knight with what looked like a single slash under it, stopping next to Retro. The area she cut through under the knight caused the next traces of simple slashes to appear, striking the legs and nearly causing it to drop down. It still stood, but despite their strikes against it being weak, it doesn't look like it could last the next minute...

"Synchronized!"

The young man was a little startled on what the girl shouted from the left field, then began to look a little confused on what she meant.

Wait, if it's her plan...

Dream straightened her twin weapons, which suddenly sprouted heated flames from their blades. Yes, she still felt the rhythm after all this time, the same pattern that went through battles, and now she already planned to use it. The excited young woman jumped onto the height of the large knight before positioning her blades above her diagonally.

"Flame Cross!"

She swung her blades through the air, the flames from her weapons attaching themselves to the two slices she made, creating dual flaming waves. Said fiery waves slashed through the knight, the searing flames burning the large enemy and keeping it on the edge.

"Retro!"

"On it!"

The young man's gaze on the large monster became empty, lifeless, and hollow, the deadly aura catching the enemy off guard and locking it in its place. He dismissed his sword, causing it to disappear into his mind, and raised his only handgun at the helmet. There was no escape for the enemy, as it landed on the trap, so...

_Blast...!_

The altered bullet howled and flew onto the head of the knight, clashing with its black helmet that shook violently. Retro was amazed; weakened monsters could barely hold on their own against the deadly attack, but this large knight still lived, albeit still suffering from its burns from earlier and the roaring bullet that continued to get through it.

Until...

Dream wasn't sure what she was doing when she locked her blades on the other end of the head, both attacks crushing the enemy helplessly. But she still felt the rhythm that called out to her, the one beat that she had to time...!

"...Hah!"

She heavily slashed the head with the X-mark with the altered bullet still drilling through.

The heavy slashed ended it all. The large enemy's helmet was driven to the ground with the bullet, crashing onto the green field before shattering in an explosion, leaving Retro to shield his eyes from the blast. The pieces of the helmet were all over the place, before turning into small cubes and vanishing into the air.

The entire armor of the large monster lifelessly fell down to the ground, as it, too, became transparent cubes of nothingness.

It was over.

...

"What a finale," Dream breathed in awe, dismissing her Circuit Edge from the world. "I'm actually surprised I pulled that off."

"I'm just as surprised as you are," Retro commented after lowering his arm to reveal widened eyes. "What was that supposed to be? Did you not have an idea of what you were doing?"

"Nope," Dream grinned once again. "Hey, if I managed to finish that finish, there shouldn't be a complaint."

"And if the bullet still went through?"

"I knew it wasn't happening, so, hah."

The young man sighed. "...You're insane."

"Nothing new," Dream ended the argument with just a wave.

Both of them finally turned to the one that slept through all of the battle, as peaceful as ever. Whatever answer they wanted to hear, they would have to set her free first before they could get to it.

"...Dream." Retro's gaze on the sleeping woman went rather soft.

"I know," Dream whispered, a warm smile placed on her for his and Sylvia's reunion. "Just catch your lover when I'm done with the seal."

"Right..."

The swirl necklace from Dream shot a laser at the large prison, cracking through the cube as it was trying to be unlocked. Only a few seconds passed, and the cube slowly disintegrated into smaller cubes, the power that held the sleeping girl no longer used.

Sylvia's fall was cut short by Retro, arms catching her before she could touch the ground. They were able to get a better look on her; the top part of the dress being blue, the bottom being clean white, and the white ribbon on the top had blue stars patterned all over. There she was, still sleeping, but free from the cycle.

"...There's a time seal on her."

Dream wasn't that surprised to see Retro glaring at her tensely. She walked next to the two before explaining.

"I could fix it," she continued solemnly. "Well, Cosmic Clock can, but if it had the Power Core already, then removing the seal would have been much easier and faster."

The hopes in Retro were broken. He looked at the ground in a blank state before turning to the sleeping lover, a sorrow expression prelevant.

"Sylvia... I suppose it will take just a little while longer before I finally get to see you..."

"...No offense, but isn't that line fitting for those who want a death wish? Don't tell me you're going suicidal."

"...Hah, you're as amusing as ever, Dream."

The glint of happiness in his eyes was for a short moment, yet Dream noticed it right away. She did want to get her point across; there wouldn't be any reason to cry over something that can be fixed.

The only rule she followed...

"Let's go back, Retro," Dream spoke up, a hand on her hip. "I'll get rid of the monsters for you while you carry her."

"Yeah..."

It wasn't a true reunion, but the outcome was still better than nothing. Thus, all three of them left the world, the symbol of the blue wonders, the one that was dreamed by the girl who lived for the blue roses.

So ended the exploration of Sapphire Sands Zone.

* * *

So how did this happen?

"Haha!" The lady in the rat costume from earlier pressed her foot down on the lying figure. "I _knew _it! See, if I kept on spreading word about this weird globe thing, someone stupid would take the bait and we can sneak attack them easily! And it worked like a charm!"

"That's a nice plan, chu!" The actual rat commented brightly.

Oh, right. The moment Dream stepped out of Sapphire Sands Zone, someone did a quick attack, knocked her down, and, well, here was the position they were in. Of all the times for good things to happen, something worse had to come up at the last moment...

"So you spread the rumor just so you could get someone over here?" Dream wondered, a little angry that her new bed was forced to be the ground.

"Duh! What else would it be?" The rat lady mocked, still standing above the figure.

"Well damn, you're a genius," the former goddess suddenly spoke in awe. "I seriously didn't expect this, so, kudos to you and stuff. You should get a trophy or something."

"Thanks for the compliment," the assaulter remarked dryly. "Not that it means you'll be getting anywhere, though."

"So what do you want?" Dream still shook on the ground. "You want to steal something? You kids these days. You never go through all the hard work for money."

"You got that wrong, chump!" The black mouse corrected, pridefully. "We're not stealing anything! We're stealing you!"

"Not happening."

Both girls and the mouse snapped their heads to the new voice, the one who came out of the IDEA Zone with the girl on his arms. His gaze on the two shady characters was steady.

"Oh, crap," the rat lady mumbled. "Forgot about the guy. I didn't think he was involved..."

"Wait, he was?" The mouse blinked, not believing the scenario.

"Now then," Retro said before setting his lover on the side, his glare on the two pretty heavy. "I think it's best if you left the place quietly, or you can suffer here and now. Whichever."

...The two shady attackers only chortled rudely, much to Retro's chargin.

"Ahahaha!" The rat lady spat vividly. "Oh, that was a good one! You? Threatening me? When I'm threatening your friend right here?"

"...You mean the rock?"

"Yes, the-wait what now!?"

Both of them stopped their laughter before they actually checked the figure... which turned into a flat surface of a rock and not the former goddess the rat lady's foot was on.

"Hi."

And then they turned to Dream, standing on the side of the field, looking rather well. Inexplicably, if anyone could add. But she knew. The Battery Core was gone as well as the Power Core, but if she only needed to slow time for seconds without freezing time in order to move away...

And slipping the rock there while she was at it.

...

"You... you little bitch!" The lady in the costume roared at Dream. "How did you even get there!? I'm gonna smack you and send your ass back home until-"

Her voice stopped in her throat, but it was not on purpose. Even the mouse couldn't get himself to say anything once they felt that deadly sense erupting from behind them. Slowly, they turned, just in time to find Retro casting that deafening, solidifying, scary-as-all-hell glare against the two, one gun aimed at their position.

The world fell on silence. It fell on erupting death. They couldn't move. They couldn't say much. Well, the unhealthy-looking lady was still able to form a thought before the two were struck by the unavoidable destructive bullet.

'_Crap. I think this is gonna destroy my paycheck._'

_Blast!_

And their loud screams rose from the top of their lungs, then gradually began to fade away after the bullet managed to send them flying far from the area and into the clear skies. Afterward, their airborne bodies became smaller than a single dot before turning into a twinkling star.

The threat of those two gone, he dismissed his dangerous projectile weapon before letting out a sigh.

"Truly, I have never met such a loud, furious idiot," Retro muttered. "She did have the brains, though, but still..."

Dream only blinked. So after all that, Retro would only come back to a calm state, huh?

"...You know, Retro," Dream spoke with a grimace, "your scariness reminds me of someone. And she's a nightmare if you piss her off."

Retro just shrugged as they began walking owards the city, sleeping Sylvia back on his arms.

"Good to know."

* * *

**Finish!**

**Thus begins the lost legend and excited girl Dream, and the totally-not-a-MMZ-series-Zero-expy Retro.**

**The old story? Meh, there's still some things I could use from there, but that's not happening until later. Like Ace and Synk, which they'll appear once the Power Core gets back. In fact, j****ust for references, I'll post some information or whatever later on. When? I dunno.**

**I could just apologize for this absurdly long wait for... anything, but that's not really gonna cut it, so here.**

**Now to go die again. Later.**


End file.
